It is no surprise that libraries are coping with a large number of patrons who are homeless or have mental illnesses. Public libraries are, after all, designed to be welcoming spaces for all.
This can leave libraries struggling with how to serve a population with very diverse needs.
How libraries became the front line of America’s homelessness crisis
They are destinations “for people who have no place to go.”
by Richard Gunderman and David C. Stevens
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/19/how-libraries-became-the-front-line-of-americas-homelessness-crisis/
On any given night in 2014, over half a million people in the United States found themselves without a home. While the majority of these people (69 percent) secured shelter for the night, many do not provide daytime accommodations for their patrons. This leaves many in search of daytime activity and protection from the elements.
Unfortunately, many homeless are also living with debilitating mental illnesses. The intimate relationship between homelessness and mental illness is well-established. Almost all psychiatric conditions are over-represented in homeless populations.
The transition from inpatient to outpatient psychiatric treatment that began in the 1960s, including the closure of state-run psychiatric hospitals, may contribute to the prevalence of mental illness among the homeless. Today, adjusting for changes in population size, U.S. state mental hospitals house only about 10 percent the number of patients they once did.
So it is no surprise that libraries are coping with a large number of patrons who are homeless or have mental illnesses. Public libraries are, after all, designed to be welcoming spaces for all.
This can leave libraries struggling with how to serve a population with very diverse needs.
A major metropolitan library
This is an issue we know that librarians at a metropolitan public library we visited are grappling with. We became aware of this issue in speaking informally with librarians who work there. To our surprise, we learned that the library serves a large number of homeless and mentally ill patrons.
The librarians told us about some of these patrons. There is Big Bob, a large man in his 40s who frequently regales the librarians with accounts of his exploits as a member of special ops forces in the military. There is John, a reclusive man always attired in combat fatigues and heavy-duty army boots who turned out, in the bitterest cold of winter, to be suffering from severe frostbite. And there is Jane, a young woman who, when it emerged that she was temporarily living in her car, turned the tables on the librarians by saying, “Shh,” so no one else would learn of her plight.
Some of these library patrons are homeless. Others have been diagnosed with a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression or substance dependence. Tragically, many are experiencing both.
They come to the library for all sorts of reasons: to seek warmth and shelter, to use the restroom, to access the Internet, to meet friends and, yes, even to read books and newspapers. One librarian estimates that about half of the library’s regular patrons are either mentally ill or homeless.
The library’s long-term employees report that the mentally ill were not always such a prominent component of its clientele. Their presence increased dramatically 20 years ago, with the closure of a local mental hospital.
How librarians can help patrons who are mentally ill or experiencing homelessness
Helping homeless and mentally ill clients is a challenge that libraries all over the country are grappling with, but library science curricula don’t seem to have caught up.
According to one newly minted librarian who received her master’s degree in library science a few years ago, contemporary library education typically includes no coursework in mental illness. It focuses on the techniques and technology of library services, especially meeting the needs of patrons for access to information.
Learning strategies to assist mentally ill and homeless patrons might not be on library curricula, but the American Library Association has long had policies in place emphasizing equal access to library services for the poor, and in 1996 formed the Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty Task Force.
Across the country, libraries have developed helpful strategies for serving homeless and mentally ill patrons. One, at least for large libraries with sufficient numbers of personnel, is to designate a member of the staff as a specialist in these matters, who serves as a resource person for other employees.
At the metropolitan library we visited, one of the more civically oriented librarians acts as a liaison between various local mental health agencies and homeless shelters. She has cultivated a relationship with a mental health crisis clinician at the county hospital, who has organized workshops to educate the library staff about mental health and substance abuse.
This librarian’s work with homeless and mentally ill library patrons is supported by the library’s budget, but much of her progress was driven by her personal commitment. As she looks toward retirement, she worries that these services will fade when she leaves.
However, there are signs that libraries are embracing their role as a safety net. Libraries in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia are hiring social workers to assist with the needs of homeless and mentally ill patrons. Others in Queens, New York and Denver have outreach programs that bring training services to homeless shelters and educate residents about library services. The Denver program even provides the bus fare to visit the library.
The librarians we talked to take their role as surrogate mental health workers in stride, and many regard their mentally ill patrons with a sense of mission.
Said one librarian who has worked at the downtown library for more than 30 years:
Boston Public Library
https://kushima38.kagoyacloud.com/?p=7318
(sk)
アメリカでは図書館はホームレスや精神的に少しおかしい人たちが集まる場所になっているようだけれど、日本では図書館は高齢者の溜り場。どの図書館も高齢者でいっぱいだ。
日本の高齢者は、することがないし、行くところもない。図書館に行って、うたた寝をする、新聞や本や雑誌を読む、すわってぼんやりする。そんなカネのかからない時間の使い方は、高齢者にはなかなかいい。
新聞や本や雑誌の販売額が減少の一途をたどっているのに対し、図書館の数は増加の一途。貸出数も右肩上がり。なのに、20 年前には 2,400 だった公共図書館の数が、今では3,300。高齢者のおかげだ。
余暇を図書館で過ごす高齢者のおかげで、図書館は不況とは関係なし。でも、高齢者が増えれば増えるほど、若い人は行かなくなる。
高齢者の暇つぶしの場所、行きつけの居場所にすることを奨励し、図書館の入場者数を増やそうという馬鹿な図書館もでてきて、なんだかなあという感じでいっぱいになる。
うんざりは、図書館の高齢者だけではない。書店も、店内に椅子が置かれていたりする大きなところは、高齢者ばかり。椅子には毎日同じ人がすわり、常連以外は座れない感じらしい。コーヒーを飲みながら、そしてドーナツをほおばりながら、新刊をチェックする。そんな高齢者たちは、なぜかみんな図々しく、汚しても弁償しようとしない人ばかり。日本の高齢者はエバっているから、書店員は大変だ。
図書館員も大変らしいのだが、あまりシンパシーは感じない。派遣が多く、感じの悪い人ばかりという印象だ。
最近になって気付いたのだが、美術館の図書館の館員は感じがいい。横須賀美術館図書室、国立新美術館アートライブラリー、東京都現代美術館美術図書室と、いいところばかりが浮かんでくる。あっ、五島美術館大東急記念文庫という例外があったっけ。
図書館も書店も、どこも混んでいて、日本はほかの国とは違うのかなあとも思うけれど、電車に乗ればみんな画面に熱中しているし、ほんとうのところ、よくわからない。
ほんとうのところがわからないのは、売り上げも同じで、
性風俗の売上 ＞ パチンコの売上 ＞ 公営ギャンブルの売上 ＞ 国の防衛予算
などという。防衛予算より競馬＋競輪＋競艇の売り上げが多いのは、まあそうかなあと思うけれど、パチンコがそれより多いとか、性風俗の売り上げはもっと多いとか言われても、なかなかピンとこない。もっとも、どの駅のそばにも、パチンコ屋とラブホテルはあるけれど。
「図書館に将来はあるか？」という質問があるけれど、「絶対にない」と言いたい。高齢者の暇つぶしのための図書館なんて、いらない。
団塊世代が向き合う読書～図書館とブックカフェ
団塊世代～定年・退職後をよく生きるヒント
http://witteddankai.tarubiz.com/2009/03/post-15.html
私は、佐野というデザイナーみたいに、コピーをしたと責められるのだろうか。それとも、たまたま文章の一部が似ているだけだといわれるのだろうか。